Damaged Angel
by I heart you JW
Summary: Life was good.I was the newest member of the Pretty Committee,new to OCD,and Cam's girlfriend.Life was going great!I loved my new life in Westchester.I was safe here.Or so I thought...
1. Ally Girl

**I think this is the third Maximum Ride/Clique fanfiction and I've read the other two so I know their ideas. I just thought I'd try something completely different. Instead of making the Flock come to Westchester I combined the two books. So enjoy.**

* * *

><p>I laughed. "Nice Derrik," I said. He smirked and turned to Josh. We were in New York City today going to me the girls, well the others were going to meet their girls, mine wasn't here.<p>

Life hasn't been the same since I lost Claire. I'm only laugh because I know she's hate to see me sulking over losing her.

A few months again, Claire just disappear. The police said she could have run away but we all doubted that. Claire loved her life in Westchester. She loved being friends with Massie, Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen, she loved going to OCD, she loved her family-even her little brother, Todd-, she said she loved me too. So she wouldn't have ran away.

I looked up and saw that Claire's missing posters were still up on the walls. In the first month that she was missing, her family, the Pretty Committee-is that what Massie called them?-, and the soccer guys went around Westchester and New York City with her missing posters. We put them up on every light post, wall, bulletin, and store window we could find. We all loved Claire and wanted her to be found.

Derrik has been trying to hook me up with other girls, saying I would get over Claire if I had a new girl. But none of them were as great as Claire. We would find her one day. I don't know when, or how, or even where, but I knew Claire would be found. She had to be.

As we walked past a ally on the way to the store where Massie and the others were I heard something that whimpering. I stopped and listened. That was defiantly something sobbing.

The other guys stopped. "Dude, why'd you stop?" Derrik asked confused.

"Listen," I said. "It sounds like someone's hurt." Everyone shut up and you could hear the sound of someone sobbing loudly.

"Sounds like it's coming from down there," Josh pointed down the ally we were standing in front of.

"I think I'm going to check it out," I said and started to walked down the ally. I heard the guys follow behind me.

Derrik walked ahead. "I found her!" He called. I ran over to where he was. Sure enough next to the dumpster at the end of the ally was a girl.

The girl was girl into a tight ball. She wild pale blond hair that spread out over most of her form. Her legs had dirty cut-offs and from the leg skin that was showing you could see all the cuts and bruises that were on them. Her shirt was pale blue and looked like it was a hospital gown. She had no shoes.

"Dude look," Derrik said. I looked to where he was pointing and saw that the girl had a large reddish-brown stain in her hair. Dry blood. It was all over her hair. I realized that she was shivering. I bent down and took my jacket off laying it on her shoulders. From there I could see a large gasp in her face that was still bleeding. What had this girl went through?

"What happened?" I asked her. I grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it. It wasn't a romantic gesture, just a gesture of comfort. When the girl didn't answer I said, "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl gave a small shake of her head, as if to say no. Derrik knelt down next to me. "Yeah, he's right. We're here to help you," he said. "My name's Derrik and this is Cam, and Josh, and Chris. We're all here to help."

The girl gave a muffled response. "What?" I asked.

The girl lifted her head enough for me to get a better look at her face. There were lots of small cuts and the big gasp was still bleeding, bad. Besides that she had a black eye that looked to be forming. "I said," her voice was dry and scratchy, as if she hadn't had anything to drink in days, "go away."

"No," I told her. "Your hurt and need help," I squeezed her hand again. "What happened to you? Please tell us."

I saw tears form in the girls eyes. "They came for me," she chock out in between the tears. "They pulled me in a van. They brought me to a tunnel in New York and into a laboratory. They throw me in a cage. I was so scarred. All I could think of my family and my friends and…_him._" She chocked on her sob.

Derrik put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll help you find them," he reassured her. "We'll help you find your family and your friends and whoever else you need."

I nodded. "I'll help too," I said.

The girl sobbed harder. "No, I can't go back," she choked. "Not after everything!"

"Yes you can," I said. "No matter what happened, they'll what you back." I remembered Claire. "I lost someone recently and know how it feels. If I could get her back, I don't care what had happened." I hadn't confessed that to anyone but this girl need to know that she would be okay and need to find her family.

The girl started to calm down. "Cam," she said in a dry even voice.

"Yes?" I asked.

The girl lifted her head up slowly. Her tangled, dirty, blood-stained hair fell revealing her pale blood face. "You need to leave before they come back to get me," she said staring into my eyes. Her eyes were blue-gray.

"Claire?" Time froze.

**Claire's POV**

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Fang asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll get these guys a good home them figure everything out," I reassured him.

Fang nodded. "We'll probably be in New York for a few more days if you need us," he said.

I nodded. "Thanks for the offer, but it won't be needed," I told him.

Fang nodded. "Good luck Claire," he said then headed back into the tunnel.

I looked back at the other kids. They were all younger than me. None of them had wings, so that would make this all more difficult. "Alright, let's get started," I said leading them out the tunnel.

**5 hours later**

It took all morning but I finally found a place for all the kids. I couldn't stay with them, but I found them somewhere safe. I had to find my family, Massie, the Pretty Committee, and Cam. Oh Cam, I missed you so much.

I remember how it all happened. How they took me. I was walking to Layne's house because Todd had broken my bike. Layne lived all of ten minutes away so I was sure nothing would happen. I had my phone and everyone knew where I was going. I saw a black van coming around the corner and walked closer to the wall on the sidewalk. The van stopped suddenly and extremely handsome men jumped out. I started to walk fast and they just ran at me. I took off running down the street. I was just needed to get to the next house then someone would see me. One of the men jumped on me, pulling me down to the sidewalk. I screamed out for help put the man stuffed his hand into my mouth. It was cover in fur. I turned my body and saw he looked like he was half dog. I screamed out in shear terror.

They throw me into the van and jumped in. The men drove and I screamed for help. One of the guys slapped me. "Shut up unless you want me to make you do it for good," he sneered.

I gulped back. Tears filled my eyes as I realized I'd never see my family again. For the rest of the ride, I silent cried. When we got to the New York City we went through a tunnel, then up a latter. Through the door was a laboratory. They throw me in a dog cage and told me to stay quiet. Throw the months that I was there they experimented on me. They sewed wings to my back and made me stronger and lighter. They starved me and barely ever gave me water.

By the day that Max came I had lost all hope. I never thought I would get out of there. I would never be a mother or an actress or see anyone ever again. I would never see the Pretty Committee or my family or Massie or Cam. I missed Cam so much. I missed everyone.

Max was my angel and hero. She had survive through this for ten years and I had only survive for a few months. She was a true hero, raising the Flock and kicking butt, I was nothing. I was lucky to survive.

I kicked a rock into the wall. "Stupid!" I yelled. "I hate you!" I kicked another rock. I was taking out my anger on everything else. It was wrong but I need to get it out some how.

"And I thought we made such a connection," someone said.

I spun around and saw three erasers standing there. I gasped. The one who had spoken was the one who had told me to shut up months before. I had to be brave. I had to be like Max. I could take this. Taking a deep breath I dug my heels into the ground. "Bring it on!" I said. Now was the time to remember whatever fighting skills I could.

The eraser smiled and stalked forward. Let me get passed the gruesome details and tell you this. One get me with his claw on my check, leaving a large gasp, I was sure I would have a black eye tomorrow, and bruises and cuts covered the majority of my body. I had gotten in a few good punches and kicks but in the end could not take on the three erasers and ran.

The erasers chased me for a few blocks until I got trapped by a fence. I tried to climb it but got stuck at the very top.

"We got you now pip squeak!" One of them yelled as they started up the fence. I made a snap second decision to try and fly. Spreading my wings I jumped of the fence and concentrated on flapping. Once, Twice. I felt my feet touch the ground and looked back. I was a good fifty feet from the fence that the erasers were still on the other side of. I smiled. I had flow! I had flow! I turned around and ran. No need to lose distance.

I ran by a trash can that had a pair of cut-offs on the top. I grabbed them, not carrying if they had ketchup and grass stains on them. Since being taken I wasn't picky when it came to clothes, I wasn't picky on anything. I pulled on the cut-offs and looked behind me. I didn't hear anyone coming but couldn't take a chance. I started running again trying to gain more distance.

That's how I ended up in the ally. I stopped here to breath. I walked to the very back and leaned against a wall. Slowly, I slide down the wall. No one could see me behind the dumpster so I should be okay.

I closed my eyes and imagined that I was back in Westchester, that I was at a Friday night sleepover with the Pretty Committee and I was normal again. I imagined running back in my house after being gone for so many months. I could feel my parents warm hugs. I could imagine Todd joking about how he didn't miss me. I imagined Massie and the rest of the PC saying how much they cared. I could imagine Cam kissing me. The sweet taste of his lips. Then I saw the wings flying out. The fear in Cam's eyes. The rejection in Massie's eyes, the disappointment in my mother and father's. I felt the hot tears that I hadn't realized well up in my eyes fall.

I started to sob. I couldn't help it. Thinking about my family and knowing I could never see them again. Thinking of how Cam kissed me and knowing I'd never get to feel that again. Thinking about how Massie and I become friends and now she would call me the freak I was.

I let myself curl into a ball. My sobs rocked my body as I let it all out. There was nothing left.

Some time later I heard footsteps coming down the ally. This didn't stop my cry, but with my over sensitive hearing it was impossible not to hear.

"I found her!" A boy screamed. I heard people run over to where I was. "Dude look," the same guy said.

Someone bent down next to me and set a jacket on my shoulders. "What happened?" A new voice asked. Cam? He sounded so much like Cam. The new boy grabbed my hand and squeezed it. This made me cry harder. I knew that this boy was just doing this as comforting gesture but it still hurt. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

I shook my head. He didn't know it but just because of his nice gesture and voice he had already hurt me. I heard another person kneel down next to me.

"Yeah, he's right. We're here to help you," said the first boy. "My name's Derrik and this is Cam, and Josh, and Chris. We're all here to help you."

I felt my heart give a tug. Cam! It really was him. And Derrington and Josh and Chris! It was all the crushes, which meant Massie was close. But they couldn't be here. I didn't want them to see me like this and I didn't want them to get hurt if the erasers came back.

"Go away," I said.

"What?" Cam asked.

I lifted my head up just enough so he could hear me. I hope it wasn't enough for Cam to see my face. "I said," I could hear my voice. I was dry and scratchy, "go away." I made sure they heard me.

"No," Cam said. "Your hurt and need help," he squeezed my hand again. I let out a little sob. "What happened to you? Please tell us."

"They came for me," I chocked on my tears. "They pulled me in a van. They brought me to a tunnel in New York and into a laboratory. They throw me into a cage. I was so scarred. All I could think of was my family and my friends and…_him_," I couldn't say Cam's name. It would hurt too much to remember all of it.

I felt Derrik put his hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. "We'll help you find them," he said. "We'll help you find your family and your friends and whoever else you need."

"I'll help too," Cam said.

I started to sob hard. Cam was so sweet and I had to give it all up so he could have a normal life. "No, I can't go back," I choked. "Not after everything!"

"Yes you can," Cam said. "No matter what happened, they'll what you back. I lost someone recently and know how it feels. If I could get her back, I don't care what had happened." I sobbed harder. He still cared!

I tried to calm down. Slowly my heartbeat slowed. "Cam," I said in a dry even voice.

"Yes?" Cam asked.

I lifted my head slowly. My hair fell out of my face and I'm sure he could see the scrapes and cuts on my face. "You need to leave before they come back to get me," I said looking deep into his one blue eye and one green.

"Claire?" Cam asked me. Slowly, ever so slowly, I nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>I mainly wrote this because I was thinking about how perfect the events turned out to be. When Max released that girl in New York City and Claire lives in Westchester so it's possible that they took her.<strong>

**I only have maybe an idea for the next chapter or two so if you have an idea I would like to know. I mean I'll think of something eventually but I would like some ideas encase I don't. And I don't know how much the Flock will be in this story so, if you want them to be a big part tell me. Thanks for reading, please review.**

**~Bella ;)**


	2. Venom Claw

**Cam's POV**

Slowly the girl nodded. Claire! This couldn't be real, could it? Claire was sitting here in front of me right now after so many months of us worrying. She was alive and not exactly healthy but not ruined. She could still be fixed. A little blood shed isn't so bad if you consider all the pain everyone has went through. But what had happened to Claire? Sure, she had given us a little information but as I stated it was little and didn't help much.

"Claire?" I asked. She didn't respond. "Claire, what happened to you?"

She looked away from me and to the ground. "Nothing," she said, though it sound as if she was on the verge of tears. "You should leave."

I shook my head. "No, we will not leave you like this, you're hurt, and need help," I said with nothing put concern. I looked over at the guys, out of all of them Derrik seemed to be functioning the best. "Call and ambulance." He nodded and turned to Josh.

"No!" Claire screamed shooting up from her spot on the ground to a standing position. "I will not go to a hospital and you will not stay!" She looked back into my eyes. "You will not risk your life for some freak."

I shook my head, completely surprised at what she'd said. "Claire, there are a lot of words to describe you but freak will never be one of them," I smiled. "It never was and still isn't.

A tear leaked out of her eyes. Her lips moved but she was speaking to low and fast for me to even hear her.

Sighing, I put an arm around her shoulders. "Fine, no ambulance," I said regretfully, "but how about a hospital? Get you all cleaned up, make sure you're not seriously injured?" I hoped she would agree.

She shook her head. "No hospital," she whispered.

I just nodded, not wanting to push her. "Fine, no hospital. I'll just take you home and get someone to come to you," I smiled at having thought of the idea. Fine, if Claire doesn't like hospitals then no hospitals, but either way I was getting her to a doctor.

She pulled away from me. "Haven't you been listening to me!" She yelled her voice cracking. "You all need to leave! If they come back they'll take us all!"

I looked at her completely shocked. Shaking it off, I walked up to her cautiously, in case she decided to blow up again. "Claire, calm down," I said in an attempted to be soothing. "No one is going to hurt you. Everything will be okay."

"Fuck if you think everything will be fine!" She yelled. My eyes widened and I'm sure everyone else looked the same. Claire Lyons, sweet kind Claire Lyons, had just cursed. That was the sign that told me she was hurting and needed help.

I took a deep breath, trying to think of what to do. "We'll leave," I said, a plan already forming in my mind.

"No!" Derrick screamed.

I held my hand up to quiet him. "If you see a doctor so we're sure you're okay. If everything checks out fine, then you're free to go and we'll stay away from you. But if your injured you stay at least until your are in perfect health again. Does that sound like a deal?" I knew that this would work. I had seen Claire's injures and knew no sane doctor would let her go untreated. Once she saw her friends and family again she'd never want to leave.

"I'm not going to get you to leave any other way will I?" Claire asked with pleading eyes. For a second, I believed her, I believed that we were all in extreme danger. Then I realized that even if I was, Claire need help first and I was going to have to help her. I nodded. Claire sighed. "Fine."

I smiled and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Claire jumped a little, but otherwise was unphased by the gesture. Derrik walked up next to me and gave me and odd look. I just shrugged, saying this was the best I could do and I'll figure the rest out later. He nodded, likely understanding me exactly and walked ahead.

Claire cringed as we walked out of the ally. "You okay?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Too loud," was her only answer.

I raised my eyebrows. How was this too loud? New York City may be loud but we were on one of the least busy streets, so it wasn't loud at all. What was wrong with her?

"There you are." I looked up and saw that Massie, Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen were walking up to us with shopping bags in hand. It was Alicia who had spoken. "Josh, when I got your call that you were in an ally I freaked out." She pouted.

Josh just smiled at her. "You had to see this," He said then looked at me. "Cam, let her go."

"I'm not a dog," Claire muttered to me.

I chuckled. "I know you're not, we're just excited," I claimed. I pushed her forward a little, towards Massie. "Now go show them."

"Show us what?" Massie asked, taking the leadership role and stepping forward, in front of the others.

Claire lifted her head. "Hi," she said almost silently.

Massie's head snapped up to look at Claire. "Who might this be?" She asked, disgust radiating from her voice.

I saw Claire stiffen. Her face became red with either angry or embarrassment. "You know you don't have to be a bitch about seeing some that's a little different than you!" Claire snapped at them. You could hear the anger in her voice.

Massie gasped. "Claire?" She asked. Dylan, Alicia, and Kristen gasped. Claire continued glaring at them but nodded. Massie's eyes widened. "Claire, I'm sorry I didn't know." Massie looked at her with concern. "What happened?"

Claire shrugged. "Stuff," she said as if it was nothing.

Kristen stepped forward and touched Claire's cheek. When she pulled her hand back there was blood on her fingers. "You need help," Kristen went in her back and pulled out a tissue. "Here." Kristen smiled and put it on Claire's cheek, trying to clean up the blood.

Claire flinched but otherwise said nothing. Massie stepped forward. "Claire?" She said ones more. Claire looked at her. "Look, I'm sorry we missed you, we all missed you," she looked over at me, "Cam especially."

I smiled. "Thanks," I whispered.

Claire's face softened. "Massie," she said. "I missed everyone so much!" She said running into her arms. Massie hugs her, which is odd for her, but makes sense. She must have missed Claire since they had been friends. Soon all the girls were in a hug. This was good, this would make Claire come home.

"Well looks like the little bird girl found some friends."

Claire froze. Slowly she turned around to looked at the person that stood behind us. I turned with her. Standing on the other side of us were three really big dudes. The looked like the kind of guys that would be in a chicks magazine not on the street. Why was Claire acting so afraid of them? And why had they said little bird girl?

"Go away," Claire said determined. She took a step forward and stood her ground.

"Awe, look the little bird girl thinks she can take us on," the guy in front laughed. "Isn't that cut I left on you enough from reason to come through?"

Claire gulped. I would not let them hurt her! Apparently the others were thinking the same because Chris took a step forward.

"Dude!" He yelled. "It's not cool to hurt a girl!" He told the guy.

The one in the front, who I now assumed was the leader, just rolled his eyes and looked at the others. "This is how you deal with an annoying brat in your way," he said then grabbed Chris and tossed him against the wall. Chris hit the wall with a thump and fell to the ground. He didn't move.

"Chris!" Dylan called out. She started to run to him but Kristen stopped her.

The leader turned back to looked at the rest of us. "Now let's get the bird girl," he said.

I assumed he was taking about Claire so I stepped forward. "You're not touching her!" I told them.

The guy looked at me and laughed. "Fine, we'll take all of you," he said. The guy smirked and raised his hand over his head like he was going to hit me.

"Claire! NO!" Massie screamed. I looked back to see and saw Claire running up to me. She slammed into my body with such force I swore it could have been any quarterback. I fell to the ground but looked up at the moment that the guys fist collided with her side.

Claire let out a loud shriek before falling to the ground.

**Claire's POV**

I still can't believe I agreed to see a doctor. I hated them so much since being in that laboratory. They had brought me into a room that looked like a surgery room. I remember them putting me under but could still feel a lot of the pain. Ever since then I had hated all scientist and doctors, what had Fang called them? Oh yeah whitecoats.

As we walked out of the ally, I heard all the sounds of New York City. It was so loud hear. The sounds had been muffled in the laboratory but now, it was so horrible I cringed.

"You okay?" Cam asked.

I nodded. "Too loud," I muttered, not willing to explain it. I saw Cam raise his eyebrows but he otherwise ignored it.

"There you are." It was Alicia. I knew her voice anyway. I looked up through my hair and saw the Pretty Committee walking up to us. "Josh, when I got your call that you were in an ally I freak out."

Josh smiled at Alicia, I guess they were still together. "You had to see this," he said looking over at Cam and me. "Cam, let her go."

"I'm not a dog," I said pissed off.

Cam chuckled, thinking it was a joke. "I know you're not, we're just excited," he said thinking that was an excuse for treating me as if I was a dog. "Now go show them.

"Show us what?" Massie asked. She stepped forward being the leader of the PC as always.

I lifted my head up. "Hi," I whispered already knowing what would happen. Because of the way I looked Massie would reject me.

Massie's head snapped up to looked at me. "Who might this be?" she asked disgusted. She must still not know it was me.

I stiffened, though I knew this would happen, my face became red with anger. "You know you don't have to be a bitch about seeing someone that's a little different than you!" I snapped.

Massie gasped. "Claire?" she asked me which earned a gasped from the others. I nodded, glaring at them. "Claire, I'm sorry I didn't know!" Massie said with concern in her eyes. "What happened?"

I shrugged. "Stuff," I said like it wasn't important at all.

Kristen stepped forward and touched my cheek. Her fingers were cold and I winced as she ran her hand through the cut I had gotten from an eraser. When she pulled her hand back there was blood on her fingers. "You need help," Kristen went in her bag and pulled out a tissue. "Here." Kristen smiled and put it on my cheek, trying to clean up the blood.

I flinched but otherwise said nothing. Massie stepped forward. "Claire?" She said ones more. I looked at her. "Look, I'm sorry we missed you, we all missed you," she looked over at Cam, "Cam especially."

I let my face soften. "Massie," I said. "I missed everyone so much!" I ran into her arms. Massie hugged me, which is odd for her. Massie usually didn't show emotions, so this meant she really cared. Soon all of the Pretty Committee was hugging me. It started to feel normal again.

"Well looks like the little bird girl found some friends."

I froze. Slowly I turned to looked over at the eraser that had spoken. It was the one who had jumped me earlier and his two buddies.

"Go away," I determined. Taking a step forward, I stood my ground.

"Awe, look the little bird girl thinks she can take us on," The leader laughed. "Isn't that cut I left on you enough from reason to come through?"

I gulped in memory of how painful it was when his claw cut throw my skin. I looked around at the others and saw Chris took a step forward. Please don't, I begged.

"Dude!" He yelled. "It's not cool to hurt a girl!"

The leader just rolled his eyes and looked at the other erasers. "This is how you deal with an annoying brat in your way," he said then grabbed Chris and tossed him against the wall. Chris hit the wall with a thump and feel to the ground. He didn't move.

"Chris!" Dylan called out. She started to run to him but Kristen stopped her.

The leader turned back to looked at the rest of us. "Now let's get the bird girl," he said.

I knew I had to think quick. I couldn't let anyone get hurt but I couldn't fight them, I wasn't strong enough. I had to do something though. If my friends ended up the same way I had then I just die.

"You're not touching her!" Cam said taking a step forward. Shit no! Cam!

The guy looked at Cam and laughed. "Fine, we'll take all of you," he said. The guy smirked and raised his hand over his head ready to hit Cam. I watched as it turned into a fury claw in a split second and knew I couldn't let Cam go through the same abuse I had.

Breaking Massie's grip I ran forward. Cam's jacket fell off my shoulders the moment I started to run.

"Claire! NO!" Massie screamed. Cam looked back at me. I slammed into him as hard as I could. He fell to the ground. I tried to move but wasn't fast enough.

The eraser's claw collided with my side. I shrieked in pain. It felt like knifes lined in poison were slicing through my body. It was hell, worse than the small cut to my face. I lost my balance and started to fall. The last thing I heard before blacking out was someone calling my name.

**I decided that I was going to involve the Flock more. They will make their first appearance in the next chapter. Also I'm going to be making this a kind of different story than what you'll expect. But still, I hope you like it. If you think this is good so far please review because I'm starting to think this story isn't that great. Please review guys.**

**P.S. I changed the title to _Damaged A_**_**nge**_**_l_,**** you'll see why in later chapters.  
><strong>

_**~Bella ;)**_


	3. Flinch

**Since I'm getting basically no reviews I'm going to throw whoever is left here a curve ball. If you hate it then you'd better tell me, if you think it's genius then let me know, and if you're still on edge and confused about it then tell me and keep on reading. Of course you'll have to read this chapter to find out what I mean.**

**Oh, almost forgot. There will be some OOCness in this story. For those of you who don't know what OOC is it stands for Out Of Character.**

_**Also, I don't own any of the Clique books or Maximum Ride's Flock. Though all of us know how much we want our own Fang.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Fang's POV<strong>

"I still don't see the point of the makeovers," I said as we walked out of the salon. I wasn't that thrilled about getting my hair cut, I'm still not, but it will be easier to fly with it on, less heavy.

"It's because our pictures are in the paper," Max said looking over at me. Max looked extremely different with her short hair and highlights. She looked good.

I shrugged. "Didn't mean we had to get makeovers," I said thinking that instead of the makeovers we could have left New York.

Max sighed and shook her head. "You just miss your hair," she joked.

"Dude! It's not cool to hurt a girl!"

I looked up and saw a kid squaring off with someone. As we got closer I saw that it was an eraser. I looked at Max and she gave me a worried look. Suddenly there was a loud thump. We looked back up and saw the kid that squared off to the eraser laying limp on the ground.

"We have to help them," Max said scanning the group of teenagers. I looked up and scanned them also. There were eight of them plus the one laying on the ground, which makes nine.

"Fine, we'll take all of you," the eraser sneered and lifted his hand, which turned into a claw once in the air. Max and I exchanged one look before running into action.

"Claire! NO!" I looked up and saw a dirty, blood, wild-looking blond girl running at the eraser. No way, that couldn't be the one that we had let out of the Institute earlier.

The girl pushed the kid out of the eraser's way and took the blow of his claw. Blood splattered. The girl let out a loud shriek and started to fall.

"Claire!" Max called out. Leave it to Max to care about some random person she barely knows. Hell, all she knows is that she was in the Institute and has wings.

I don't know what it was, but something in me made me jump forward and catch Claire before she slammed into the ground. I knew that it would only cause more damage. As I more closely examined the wounded girl I saw the real damage that had been caused. She had not only the huge claw mark on her side, but also had a large gasp on her cheek that was just starting to heal, a black eye, a huge dried blood mark on the side of her head, and lots and lots of minor cuts and bruises. I had to feel bad for her.

I put my hands on her side, adding pressure to the claw marks. I can't remember when I heard it but someone at some point in time had told me to apply pressure to a bleeding wound. Maybe it was Iggy, or Max? Either way if it helped keep Claire alive I would try it.

I looked up and saw that the Flock had gotten into a battle with the three erasers. Iggy and Gazzy had ganged up on one, Angel and Nudge had ganged up on one, and Max was going for the one that had stuck Claire. I meant her eyes.

"Help her!" She yelled. "We have this!" She turned back to the eraser in front of her.

I looked around at the kids who had witnessed this. Most of them were staring at us stunned, others were freaking out. I saw the one that had been throw into the wall was unconscious and knew that something had to be done about that. I looked to the boy that Claire had knocked out of the way. "You!" I called to him. He didn't move, instead he continued to stare at me. I sighed and looked back at the girls who had been huddled around Claire. "You!" I yelled at the girls, not caring who responded first.

A Spanish looking girl reacted first. She stepped forward. "Me?" She asked.

I just nodded. "Yeah, call an ambulance," I said. I don't like hospitals as much as the next mutant but we needed one. Claire was in danger and that other kid could be worse-if not dead-, no matter how much I hated the fact, we needed to make sure they were safe.

The girl nodded and quickly went throw her purse pulling out a phone. She touched the screen then put it to her ear, in less than a minute she was talking to one of those 911 people, or 411 or whatever it is in New York.

"Yeah one person was thrown against a wall and the other was like punched in the gut," she paused. "Neither one are conscious."

I tuned her out and looked over at Max. She was examining the Flock for any serious damages. When she was assured everyone was safe she ran over to where I was still on the ground with Claire.

"How is she?" Max asked me, nothing but concern in her voice. Even though we had just meant this girl, Max still worried about her.

"She's bleeding bad," I said nodding to where I had my hands over the claw marks on her left side. "We need to stop it."

Max nodded. "Nudge, get a shirt from one of our bags," she yelled at Nudge. Quickly Nudge dug through her bag and pulled out an oddly clean blue t-shirt. Once I got it I put it on Claire's wound. "Add pressure," Max told me.

I nodded and put more pressure on the wound. "What now?" I asked. "We all can't go with her and, even if Claire is like us, the Flock comes first. Going to a hospital could get one of us hurt."

Max nodded and thought for a few minutes. "Go with Claire in the ambulance and the Flock and I will meet you guys there," she decided. I just nodded. Though I didn't want to have to leave the Flock, I felt I owned this girl something.

We heard the ambulance around the corner. I looked up at Max. "Go," I said. "I have Claire, I'll make up something and make sure she doesn't get hurt." I tried to reassure Max that Claire would be fine and I wouldn't let her get hurt. Max nodded and led the Flock into a close by ally.

In less than three minutes of hearing the sirens, two ambulance had arrived. The guys saw the unconscious dude first and went to him. A young guy, maybe in his twenties, ran up to me next.

"What's the damage?" He asked me looking Claire over.

"Bleeding from her side, it's bad," I informed him.

The guy nodded and put pressure on the shirt that laid over her wound. He called over to his friends to get a stretcher. Once Claire was on the stretcher the young guy looked at me. "Thanks for your help," he nodded then turned to jog away.

"I can't leave her," I said running after him. "I'm…" I paused. What was I going to say? Damn it! "Her brother," I decided.

The guy looked at me then at Claire then just shrugged. "In the ambulance," he nodded to the one they were putting Claire in. I nodded and hopped in.

I sat on the built-in seat next to the bed type thing they put Claire on. I saw that someone had put a neck brace on her and gnaws around her head. I looked down and saw they had ripped her shirt off and now she was only in the cut-off jeans and a tan bra. My eyes widened as I saw the claw marks on her side was deeper than it had looked.

Without thinking I grabbed her hand and held it in mine. "Don't die on me Claire," I begged her.

Suddenly the guy from earlier pushed me out of the way and started to wrap gnaws around her side to stop the bleeding. After he was done he moved over a little and apologized to me. I just nodded and grabbed Claire's hand again.

I don't know what was wrong with me. I usually wouldn't care about some random girl off the street, that was Max's job, but with Claire… I just don't know. It's like, she just couldn't die. Maybe it was because I knew she actually had a chance to live because she had a family or maybe it was because she was younger than me, but I just knew she couldn't die yet.

When we got to the hospital they pulled Claire away on a stretcher. I tried to follow them but some lady told me I couldn't go and to wait in the waiting room. Sighing, I didn't argue and just went to sit down and worry. I sat in a chair and leaned my head against the wall. Closing my eyes, I waited for Max and the Flock to get here.

A few minutes later I heard feet walking into the room. The sound of footsteps stopped in front of me. I sighed. "I don't know what's going on Max," I said, hearing the worry in my voice scared me. "What if she dies, it's our fault."

"What do you mean it's your fault!"

My eyes snapped open and I saw a girl standing in front of me that without a doubt could not be Max. She had curly brown hair and was wear expensive looking clothes with heels and had a giant purse on her arm.

I sighed and looked away.

"I said, what do you mean it's your fault! Are you the reason Claire's in here?" She screamed at me. I didn't answer her. I guess it's my fault. I mean, if I hadn't let her leave then she would have been chased by erasers and wouldn't have had them find her and hurt her. "Will you answer me you you!"

I looked up. "You what?" I asked standing up towering over her. "You ass, you emo kid, you freak? Any of those work for you?"

The girl glared up at me for a moment then took a step back. I could she wouldn't let the fact that I was taller defeat her. "All of the above! Now, who the hell are you and how do you know Claire?"

I didn't have time to answer her because at that moment a doctor walked in and walked right up to us. "Are you the girl's brother who just came in?" He asked me. "The one that was mauled?"

I nodded assuming he was talking about Claire. "Yes," I said. Thinking on my feet I said. "My name is Nick."

The doctor nodded. He looked over at the girl. "Uh, Nick, could I speak to you in, uh, private for a moment?" He was hesitant, not wanting the girl to hear.

I nodded and followed him out of the waiting room and down a hallway. "What's up with Claire?" I asked wanting to know if she was okay.

"She's lost a lot of blood and needs a transplant," he paused. "But her body rejected all the blood types we have and we assumed it was because of her…" He stopped.

I nodded. "I know," he was talking about the wings.

"To the point, we needed to know if you had the, uh, wings also. If so are you willing to give, uh, Claire, some of your blood?" He was very hesitant.

"And what happens if I don't?" I asked. I was not a fan of hospitals and especially not doctors, so if I was able to avoid this I would.

The doctor paused and looked me in the eyes, maybe seeing if I was serious. "As I said, she has lost a lot of blood and if we are not able to get blood into her system soon she may pass on," he stated all nervousness gone.

I nodded. "Let's get this done," I said. "Take as much as you need as long as Claire lives." The doctor nodded and lead me down the hallway to another room.

It took all of my strength not to strike out and hurt the nurse as she took out a needle and pushed it into my arm. The needle stung from a moment but then I adjusted to the pain and tried to block it out. I thought about how I was doing this to keep Claire alive, how if I didn't do this she would die. I didn't have a choice on this one, if I hadn't done it than Max would have.

Now I need to figure out why I was doing this now. I mean, I didn't want this young girl to die, but still, I just meant her. I barely know her yet I feel responsible for her. I have to make sure she's okay. I'm like her big brother, yeah I can go with that. Though that's not exactly what my head thought, I was just going to go with it.

When the nurse had finished she told me to go back into the waiting room. I nodded and woozily walked back to the room I had been in before. I wonder if this is how it felt like to be drunk? Probably.

When I stepped into the waiting room I almost immediately felt the tension. The room was filled with tension and worry. I looked up and saw Max right away. She was pacing in front of the Flock, who were sitting on the chairs. Max, as if sensing me, looked up her expression nothing but worried. I looked into her eyes and saw her unspoken question. _Is Claire alive?_

I gave a half smile and nodded. Max's eyes brightened and a smile lit her face. She looked back at the Flock and explained that Claire was still alive. That made everyone less tense. The worry faded off their faces and smiles replaced them. I walked over to Max and knew I would have to deliver the bad news.

"Max," I said. She turned to me her face turning serious when she saw mine. She knew something was wrong. "They said she was in bad shape. I had to give her blood so that she wouldn't die," I paused, letting it sink in. "They saw her wings."

Max nodded, not needing to say anything from me to know she was worried about what would happen now. She sighed and sat down next to Iggy. He reached out and patted her hand. "We need to leave," she finally decided.

"No," I said quickly. "I'm not leaving her to fend for herself."

Max looked up at me with hurt eyes. "I know, I don't want to leave her either, but we have to. It's better for all of us, we can't risk the whole Flock for one person," I could tell she meant it. The way she said it, she wanted her decision to be final.

Now it was my turn to make a decision. It would decide everything no doubt. "I'm staying," I sighed. I couldn't leave Claire. I feel responsible for her, and I refuse to leave her like this. Max may not have seen it but when we had found Claire in that cage, she had been scarred. Not just scarred, but frightened out of her mind. If she woke up alone here she would freak out. She would be able to handle it. Claire wasn't as strong as Max, she was strong but she couldn't handle being alone.

"No," Max said. "We're leaving, all of us."

I looked Max straight in the eyes. "No, I'm staying. You may be able to leave Claire alone, but I refuse. She's strong but she can't make it through this alone," I told her.

For a moment, I saw water start to fill Max's eyes but she quickly blinked it away. "Fine," she said, "you don't have to come. We'll leave without you." I could hear the pain in her voice as she said this. Max didn't want to leave me behind, she wanted to keep all of us together.

I nodded. "I'm sorry," I whispered. I was, Max had become my best friend over the years and, even if I didn't admit it to anyone, I loved every member of the Flock. They were my family.

"No," it was Nudge. "Fang, you can't not come," she had tears in her eyes and as she kept talking they started to spill out. "Fang your part of the family, we need you."

"Nudge is right," Gasman said. "Your part of the family." Angel nodded.

"Fang made his choice," Iggy said. "Even though we don't like it, it's his decision."

"Yeah," Max choked on her words. "But you don't have to do this, Fang." Her eyes were pleading me to come with them.

I shook my head. "And you don't have to leave," I said. "Just stay for a few more days until she's healed and can come with us."

"What make you think she'll come!" Max demanded. "She has a family, a real, blood related one. Why would she want to run away with us?"

I was stunned, but Max was right. Claire had a family and wouldn't want to leave them for us. "I don't know," I said.

"Then come with us, if she's going to tell you to leave anyway then just come leave her," Max said, determined.

I felt my anger flare. I know I shouldn't yell at Max, but she was pissing me off. "Because she doesn't deserve to be scarred out of her mind!" I yelled back at Max. She wouldn't talk about Claire like that.

Max seemed stunned by my out burst. "Fine!" She said. "Come one let's go and leave Fang to his new Flock." Max stood up and stormed out of the room. Iggy followed after her. Nudge stood up and hugged me before following Max and Iggy. Angel and Gazzy did the same.

I sighed and sat back down in my seat. Lean my head back against the wall. I groaned. "Fuck," now I was pissed. I had just lost my family to save a fucking girl from being alone. Yet, somewhere in me, my brain knew that if I left I would regret it.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review!<strong>

_**~Bella ;)**_


	4. Caring is okay?

**Sorry for the long wait. I got distracted and I have no idea where this story is going. Thank you **_**Maximum fan of Fang**_** for reminding me that I should update soon. I got an idea and I don't know how well it'll hold up but I figured I'd give it a try.**

* * *

><p><strong>Fang's POV<strong>

It had been a about two hour since Max and the Flock had left. Since then a lot of people had come to in the waiting room to, I'm assuming, see Claire. There was an older lady who came in with a man and boy maybe Gasman's age. I'm guessing that is Claire's family, her real family. Before them, were the kids from the attack, along with the girl who had yelled at me.

There were other people too, but they stayed quiet. These people were always talking, gossiping. Even the guys, which really surprised me. The girl that yelled at me, which I now knew as Massie, was telling her friends that it was all my fault I was here.

Finally the doctor walked in. It was the same one who had asked me to give blood. Everyone stood up, surprisingly, I did too. He smiled at who I had thought was her parents. "Both Chris and Claire awake. Chris is fine and should be able to leave tomorrow," he explained. An older couple relaxed. His parents, I realized.

"And what about Claire?" Another couple asked.

The doctor sighed. "Mr. and Mrs. Lyons," I had been right, they were her parents. "Claire seems to have suffered damage to her side. Though, she is doing extraordinarily better, I would like her to stay another week, possibly two, to make sure she is recovering properly."

They seemed to relax slightly but were still on edge. "May we see her?" The mom asked.

The doctor bite his lip. "I would let you but she isn't asking for you," he said.

Massie stepped forward. "Well, let me see her, I'm sure once I talk some sense into her she'll love to see her family," she smiled.

"What's your name?" asked the doctor.

"Massie Block," she said proudly. "Claire Lyons best friend."

The doctor frowned. "She specifically asked for me to make sure you didn't come see her," she said.

"What!" Massie yelled. "Then who is she asking for?"

"She said she's looking for a girl named Max, or a boy named Fang," he said. She wanted to see me?

"Who the hell would name there girl Max! Or a kid Fang!" She yelled.

I stepped forward. "I think that's me," I said. The doctor gave me a confused look. "Nickname." He just nodded and gestured me to come forward.

Massie growled. "Who do you think you are!" She yelled at me. I ignored her and followed the doctor down the hall to where Claire's room was. He opened the door letting me in then walked away.

I walked in and saw Claire flipping through TV channels. "Hey," I smiled at her as I pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

She turned to me with a pick smile on her face. "Fang!" She cried and pulled me into a hug.

I felt her flinch and pulled back. "Easy," I said. "Don't hurt yourself."

Claire nodded. "Where's Max?" She asked. "And Nudge, and Angel, and Gasman, and Iggy?"

I frowned. "They had to go," I told her. "Max was afraid that people would ask questions so her and the rest of the Flock left."

Claire frowned. "They just left me here? To fend for myself after everything that's happened?" The fear shone in her voice. I instantly became worried for her. Claire had been through so much, probably worse than me and the Flock, and Max had just left her here, all alone.

"I'm still here," I told her. "I'm not leaving you."

Her head shoot up as an idea came to her. "Why are you still here?" She asked. "You guys are like a family, no you are a family. You can't just stay here for me? You should have left with them."

I sighed. "Claire, I wasn't going to leave you. You've been through a lot in a short amount of time. You need someone that gets what you're going through," I told her.

Claire smiled at me. "Thanks," she said the reach out and took one of my hands. "The doctor said it'll take a couple weeks for me to be fully recovered. At least a week for me to be out of this bed." She sighed, clearly upset about the long recovery time.

"You should be up and walking again by tomorrow," I confirmed.

"What?"

"We heal faster than normal people," I said. "A few weeks is usually a week or less. And I'm assuming he though you'd be in bed for a few days so maybe a few hours for us." I shrugged, hoping my horrible math was close enough to being right.

Claire smiled. "I'm glad you stayed," she said. "What happens when I get out?"

I shrugged. "You go back to your family or come with me to find the Flock," I said. "It's your choice."

"I don't think I can face my family after everything that's happen," she frowned. "They'll never love me again."

"Your family will always love you," I told her. "Don't ever doubt that."

She smiled. "I guess I should let them in, shouldn't I?" I nodded. "I'm just so scarred that they'll reject me once they find out about my wings." She sighed.

"You don't have to tell them," I shrugged. "You could keep it a secret," I paused, not sure if I should say the next thing, "or you could come with me."

"I don't know," sighed Claire. "I wanna see if they accept me first. It's been so long since I saw my family." Claire let out a sob. "I'll go with you, but I need to see my family for a while."

I nodded. "If you change your mind, tell me. You don't have to come with us," I told her, though I wish she would. No matter what Claire chose I wasn't leaving until I knew for sure she was going to be okay. I just couldn't leave her all alone, I'm not sure why but I felt like I had to protect her.

"Okay," she smiled at me. Claire squeezed my hand. "Can you go get my parents? Oh and my little brother. I kind of wanna see them," she said sheepishly.

I nodded. "I sort of already meant them," I choked out, looking down. I heard giggle and looked up at her. "What is it?"

She put her hand over her mouth, trying to stop her giggling. "You blushed," she laughed. "I never thought you'd ever blush."

My eyes widened slightly. I do not get embarrassed over anything. What the hell was wrong with me. I gave her hand a small squeeze then stood up. "I'll go get your family now," I said before walking out of the room.

"Please come back," I heard her whisper. I guess she didn't expect me to hear but, of course, with our over sensitive hearing, I did. I smiled at the thought that Claire actually wanted me here.

Pushing my guilty pleasures to the back of my mind, I walked into the waiting room looking for Claire's family. Everything seemed to pause when I walked in. Now, instead of talking, they starred at me with interest or hatred.

Don't act awkward even though this is an awkward situation. "Claire said she wanted to see her parents and her brother," I told them.

Her mother stood up and grabbed her father's hand. "Thanks God!" She sighed. Then started to run to Claire's room.

A little red headed boy walked up to me. "Don't mess with my sister!" He growled, or tried to, at me.

I rolled my eyes and decided to play along with him like I do with Gasman. "Wouldn't dream of it kid," I smirked. "You'd knock me off my feet if I did."

The little kid grinned. "You got that right dude!" He yelled at me before hurrying off to catch up with his parents.

I couldn't help but smile. This little kid was just like Gasman, minus the wings and strange urge to blow shit up. I missed my family already.

"She has a boyfriend you know!" I turned around and saw that it was Massie who was yelling at me. Standing around her was her little gang of girls that was supposed to scare me. It be funny to watch Max kick their asses.

"Okay," I said. "Then she had a boyfriend." I turned to go back to Claire's room but she continued talking.

"You shouldn't be getting all buddy buddy with her, or her brother!" Massie yelled at me. "She wouldn't like you even if you were the last guy on Earth! I know Claire and she's not into emo jerks!"

I bite my cheek trying not to lose my temper. This girl was really starting to get on my nerves and that doesn't usually happen. Most of the time I can deal with it but now of the days it seemed as if my temper was always out of control. I mean, yesterday I wouldn't have told off Massie earlier but today when she said that, I just blow up. "Look, you may think you know Claire, but you don't, not anymore. As much as you don't want to admit it, Claire has changed, and whether it's for better or worse I'm helping her through this hard time," I growled at the girl. She stared at me for a moment, stunned, but by the time she had recovered I was walking away. I don't care what this girl had to say, I was going to protect Claire until I knew for sure that Claire would be okay.

When I walked into the room I saw everyone smiling and laughing. I walked through the doorway and stood against the wall, not wanting to be seen.

"I'm so glad you're okay Claire," the women said. "I just about died when you disappeared."

"Mom," Claire whined. "I'm fine, okay." I took a better look at Claire's mother. She had Claire's blond hair and blue eyes. She was just an older version of Claire.

"Sweetheart, we are just glad that you're back," the older man said.

"Thanks dad," Claire smiled. I looked at her father. He had red hair like the little boy and green eyes. Completely different from Claire.

"I didn't miss you," the little kid said.

Claire smirked. "I love you too Todd," she pulled him into a hug and Todd returned it. Claire looked around the room. Her eyes stopped where I stood for a second then she went passed me. I crinkled my eyebrows, did she not see me.

"The doctor said you should be able to get out of here in a week," her mother smiled. "They you can come home."

Claire frowned. "Where's Fang?" she asked quickly. I guess she was avoiding the subject of what she was going to do after she got out of the hospital. Most likely because she didn't know, that's okay, I didn't either.

"Who?" Her family asked.

Claire gave them a small smile and her face reddened. "He's one of the kids who found me," she said. "I trust him with my life."

Now I was shocked. She trusted me that much? Why would she? It was Max who insisted that we free all the things in the cages. Though now I'm glad we did it. If we didn't I know that I would have regretted leaving them all there.

"He was out there talking with Massie," Todd said. "I like him." Wow, I got the little kid to like me, that's pretty good.

Claire's eyes widened. "This will not turn out good. Todd can you go get him?" She asked worry lacing her voice.

"I'm right here," I spoke up. The family looked at me with confusion written all over there faces. "What?" I asked taking a step forward. I turned invisible didn't I?

Claire's eyes widened. She most likely figured out that it was on of the side effects of the wings thing. Her family however looked surprised and amazed.

"How'd you?" Her mom started.

"So Fang, this is my mom Judi, my dad Jay, and my little annoying brother Todd," she said quickly trying to get there attention away from the fact I was just invisible.

Judi turned to me smiling. "Hello, Fang," she paused before saying my name, clearly not getting it. "So, where are you staying?"

"Actually," Claire cut in. "He was just in town with his sister for a few days and his sister had to leave. So I was wondering if Fang could stay with us for a little while, you know, until I get better and all." Claire wasn't the best liar but she would get better if she had to do it as much as me.

Judi's eyes widened and she looked at Jay. He shook his head no slightly. "Sweetheart, I'm not so sure about that," she said. "I mean you just meant Fang and, I'm not sure if the Blocks would like that."

Claire's eyes widened. "I can't just leave him," she muttered. "Mom, he saved me, I can't just leave him." Claire looked up at me. "I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not!" Jay yelled standing up from his daughters bedside. "You will not run off with a boy and I will not be having your boyfriend living under my roof!"

Oh shit, this is not good. Besides the fact of me being called Claire's boyfriend I don't think her father yelling is such a good idea.

Claire forced herself into a sitting position, flinching along the way. "He's not my boyfriend," Claire said simply. "And I'll do whatever I want. Whether he stays with us or I go with him, I'm not leaving Fang." Claire looked at me. "You said I'd get out of here tomorrow right? We can leave then." My eyes widened and I shook my head as if telling her not to bring me into this.

Her family looked to me. Judi's eyes begging me not to hurt her daughter, Jay shoot daggers at me, and Todd just stared at me, most likely surprised I was taking this so calmly. Maybe I looked calm but on the inside I was freaking out. How could this happen? I wasn't planning on stay with her family, the most I was going to do was camp out in the woods by her house. I could not handle this drama. "Claire," I warned her.

Her eyes widened, she was on the brim of tears. "You said you wouldn't leave me," she said, her voice cracking. "You're not going to leave now are you?" Her eyes were so big, so bright. They were so beautiful, she was beautiful. Beautiful? Where did that come from?

Sighing, I gave Claire one of my rare smiles, on that reached my eyes. "No," I told her. "I'm not going to leave you until you want me to."

Claire's teary eyes turned into sheer happiness. "Thanks," she smiled. "That really means a lot."

I nodded. "The least I could do." I didn't even notice that her dad was yelling angrily or that her mother had pulled out a phone and was dialing a number. I guess all that mattered was that Claire wasn't going to cry. I guess that's a bad sign, right?

* * *

><p><strong>Finally finished. Oh, and as I mention before there is OOCness in this story, and a lot of it. Sorry for that though, if I could make Fang more Fang-like then I would but there just isn't a way possible in this story. Thanks for reading anyway! And does anyone remember what Massie's mom and dads names are? I couldn't find it on Wikipedia and can't find my clique book.<strong>

**Please review my awesome readers!**

**~Bella ;)**


	5. Falling for You

**I'm going to try something a little different. Since I know I kinda screwed up our Fang with a lot of OOCness I'm going to try Claire's POV since she's more caring than him and even though I love writing using Fang's mind I'm going to do the best I can.**

**Also, I don't really know when this story takes place. Maybe after OCD and Briarwood combined, or not. I know, just think of a point in the Clique books that matches the story, i.e. Massie likes Derrington, Claire dating Cam, ect. Then go a day after than and stop! That is the day Claire was kidnapped and everything that happens in the books after that stops because of it. I hope that helps a little. Sorry, I wasn't thinking about the Clique aspect of the story when I made it up, only how the MR books fix with the idea so perfectly. Anyways, I hope my Nudge rambling helped you out, even a little.**

**(Oh, and thanks to Maximum fan of Fang and Kai2 for reminding me what Massie's parents names were! I knew they were something along those lines, so thanks!)**

* * *

><p><strong>Claire's POV<strong>

I couldn't help take joy in the fact that my father acknowledge Fang as my boyfriend. I know, I wasn't supposed to see him as anything more than a brother, I mean it was obvious that Max was into him, but I was kind of falling for Fang. The fact that he stayed with me when his family left only fueled my crush. On the outside, Fang may want everyone to think he was this hard guy, but I knew he was just a big softy on the inside. I had seen how he'd looked at his family. How much love was behind his big black violet eyes. He held some for me, whether it was just sisterly love or more I'm not sure.

When Fang gave me a smile that reached his eyes I was hooked, I knew it. Though I had only known Fang for a day and a half, I felt as if I knew his type. He was the silent one, yet he was very protective over his family. He didn't smile often and if he did, it never meant his eyes. The fact that he was giving me one of those rare smiles warmed my heart.

Eventually, my father gave up on his rants seeing they were useless and Fang was going to end up stay with us. I barely overheard my mother's conversation with Massie's mother. Though I do remember when my mother said that Kendra had told her that Fang would be aloud to stay with us in the guest house and that Kendra and William would pay for him to attend Briarwood. That was where I needed to say something.

"No," I said looking away from Fang for the first time since my father left the room.

"What do you mean no?" My mother asked, though her eyes kept darting to Fang.

"Can't he follow me around OCD until I'm fully recovered?" I asked. "He doesn't have to be enrolled, it's just," I paused, considering telling her everything. I knew I couldn't, not yet, I wasn't ready. So instead I added a childlike tone to my voice, making me sound afraid and broken, or at least more afraid and broken than I already was. "I'm scared. What if they come back for me," now my true fear was taking over. "Fang knows what I've been through, I need him there in case I breakdown, in case they come back for me." I felt a shiver go through my body at the thought of Erasers attacking my family.

I turned away from my mother and looked to see if Fang would even agree to follow me around school all day. In his dark violet eyes I saw fear, not for himself, but for me. I also saw worry, worry that he was going to lose me. At least that's what I think his emotions were for. I knew I saw fear and worry but could only assume what it meant.

I'm not sure what my mother saw pass between us but I heard her sigh. "Alright, I'll make the arrangements," she muttered before I heard her walk out the door.

Fang and I stared at each other in silence for a moment. Eventually Fang let out a sigh. I felt his hands come around mine, they were warm and strong. "Are you going to be okay Claire?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure Fang. I'm afraid that the Erasers will try to get me again and my family," I told him. "What if they come back! I can't face them alone! You saw what happened when I tried, I ended up here!" I felt myself let out a sob. "I don't want anyone to be hurt because of me."

Fang released one of my hands and ran it through my hair, pushing it back so it was out of my face. "They won't," he whispered. "I'm not going to let them get you or your family. I'm here for you Claire."

I stared into his beautiful eyes. They showed so much. Worry, caring, fear, kindness, love. I took my free hand and caressed his cheek. "How can you care so much for me?" I asked. "Don't deny it, I see it in your eyes. But how? I'm a freak of nature, I was a mistake yet you promise to keep me safe even if it means risking losing everything, why?"

A small smile came onto Fang's lips. "You're not a freak of nature, Claire," he told me, his voice serious. "What happened to you was unnatural, and you didn't deserve it yes, but you are not a freak. You are just damaged," Fang's smiled widened as his eyes found mine. "You're a damaged angel."

I couldn't help smile at him for that. Maybe he was right, maybe I wasn't a freak. I was just damaged. I was a damaged angel.

"Thanks," I smiled at him. "That means a lot to me considering you're the only one who will ever see it that way." And it was true, Massie would see me as a freak if she ever found out about the wings. I know the Pretty Committee would agree and everyone else, most likely the same. I'm starting to feel that Fang is my only friend

We just sat there for a few minutes, enjoying each others company. I looked out the window and noted that the sun had gone down outside. I saw that Fang would either have to sleep in the chair, which I knew were uncomfortable, or the floor, which was always uncomfortable. I scooted over in the bed.

"Come lay with me," I said, knowing it was a better option than the chair or floor. "This bed is big enough from both of us to fall asleep." As I stated, this wasn't a romantic gesture. I wasn't trying to push anything, just to make him more comfortable. Sure, I was going to be extremely happy that Fang would be so close to me all night, but still it wasn't supposed to be romantic.

"Claire," Fang said.

"It's just so you can be more comfortable," I told him. "I'm trying to be nice." I giggled at the fact that he was jumping to conclusions. Though, it did confirm the fact that he was thinking about me that way.

Fang nodded and stood from his chair, climbing onto the bed next to me. I scooted over as much as the allotted room would allow me. Fang rested an arm over me so we would both be more comfortable. "Claire, I can just sleep on the floor," he tried.

I shook my head. "Nonsense, I don't mind," I smiled, burying my head into the blankets so he wouldn't see. "Can I scoot closer to you so I won't fall?" I asked, giggling.

Fang sighed but nodded. He knew I was stubborn and wouldn't be letting him out of the bed now. I laid my head on his chest and curled up into him. I soon fell asleep, actually happy.

**~Five Days Later~**

The doctors were astonished at how quickly I had healed and, as Fang said, I had been out of there a day after I was checked in. My mother forced me to stay in bed two whole days after I got out of the hospital. Of course my dad was pretty pissed that Fang ended up stay in my room the whole time. There hadn't been much too do so we just talked and listened to music. I gave Fang my whole life story and Fang gave me his and more. Fang and I played games on a laptop he had and I offered the idea of him starting a blog about his and the Flock's movements. Fang laughed but I could tell he really thought through the idea. I told Fang about the extra blankets and he made himself a bed on the floor, no matter how much I told him I didn't mind him sleeping with me in my double bed.

"I don't mind," Fang told me. "We have slept in trees and on the forest floor which is much worse than with some blankets on the floor." I had laughed but didn't let Fang forget that he could always change his mind.

Over the next two days, Mom let me out of my bed and I was now aloud to roam the house. Fang, Todd, and I watched TV and played Monopoly. Not a lot to do inside the house. A doctor had come by twice a day to check on me and big news too, my parents and the doctor said I'd be fine to go back to school the next day, which is today.

Now, it was six fifty, my alarm wasn't scheduled to go off for another ten minutes, and I was staring out my window. I looked over at the large, mansion like house that lay not far from my own. I watched as Massie's silhouette walked from one end of her room to the other, trying to decide her outfit. Fang was still asleep on the floor, I didn't want him to wake up. Fang had been up after I'd fallen asleep, for a long time, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and seeing him sitting over his computer.

I sighed and snuggled deeper into the blanket wrapped around me as I realized I'd have to face everyone today, everyone I'd been avoiding while I was in the hospital and "in recover." I was afraid that Massie would just make fun of me, or Cam, oh I don't know what to think about him. I don't want to hurt him, I truly did care about Cam, just not as much as Fang.

Over the last few days we had learned so much about each other. I had told Fang about how I had moved from Florida and all the trouble I went through to make friends with the popular girls. He told me about everything him and the Flock went through. Though I told him I could handle anything, he still edited some of the details out. Now, we truly knew each other, and I had fallen more for Fang.

"You awake?" Fang asked. I looked back and saw him sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

I nodded. "Woke up a while ago, couldn't sleep," I told him before turning back to the window.

I heard Fang get up and thought he was going to walk out the door. Instead I felt him walk up behind me. I leaned into him, letting him be my anchor and hold me up. "You don't have to try and impress them," Fang whispered to me rubbing my blanket covered arms to comfort me. "We can just talk all day, you don't even have to see Massie if you don't want."

I smiled at how he remembered that I was afraid of seeing Massie. I can't believe he remembered all these facts about me. "But, she'll find me," I sighed. "She's not going to let a member of the PC leave without a fight."

Fang turned me around and pulled me into a hug. "It doesn't matter what she does," he said. "If you don't want to speak to her, then I won't let her near you."

I wrapped my arms around him and embraced Fang's hug. His warmth sent me strength. Also the fact that I knew he usually didn't act like this. He told me that he usually wasn't this open and nice. Fang had said that there was something about me that made him want to let everything out, so he did. I took that as a good sign.

"I'll just face her," I said. "I'll have to do it eventually."

**Fang's POV**

There was something about Claire that made me like this. Something that made me want to tell her everything, so I did. I told her everything that came to my mind and or anything I wanted to tell her about me past. I didn't tell her the more gory details of what happened with the Flock because I knew she was still unstable, but I told her everything else.

Though what I didn't tell her was that she reminded me of Max. Whether either one admit it or not, they could have been siblings. Both were blond, Max's just with brown in it, and had fair skin, Max's tanned, the only difference was Claire having big blue eyes and Max having dark brown ones. Though, that's not the similarities I saw. Max and Claire would both defend anyone that was in trouble, or help someone. Both were protective of their families, whether they be related by blood or not. And both had a confidence that shone through when they needed it to.

Though there was something about Claire that drew me to her, something that Max would never have. Max knows what she's going to do with her life, she supposed to protect the Flock and "save the world." Claire, well she had no idea. Claire was still holding on to whatever she could to stay afloat and try and make it through life. Max, she didn't need help, she chose to keep me close because she cared for her family. Claire, she didn't do it on purpose. She kept me here because she needed me for some odd reason.

I could have left with the Flock while Claire had been being stitched up, if I didn't I would be having this conversation with myself. I sound crazy, I sound like Max with that voice of hers. I wouldn't be surprised if I started to hear my own voice. Either way I put that to the back of my mind. I didn't need to bother myself with why I care about Claire, all I know was that I couldn't leave her.

I had started a blog, by Claire suggestion, the other night so I could stay in touch with the Flock. Max shoot me and email and we had been talking all night. They were in Virginia, a town just outside of Washington D.C. I told her to stay there and I'd be with them in about a week or more, possible with Claire. Max had agreed and told me to be careful and keep her safe.

Max cared about her, I'm guessing that she felt as if Claire was her own child. No matter how much Max wanted to deny it, I knew that she treated Angel like her daughter, along with the rest of the Flock and now Claire.

I hope she comes with me, I don't think I'd be able to leave her behind, not when she's still in distress. Though, if she asked me to leave I would. It's her choice, so if she wants me gone then I'd leave. Of course, if she wants me to stay, then I will, as long as Claire needs me.

The alarm shrieked as it signaled it was time for us to wake up. Claire sighed and pulled out of my hug. She gave me a forced smile and walked over to turn off the alarm. She took off the blanket her shoulders. "I'm going to take a shower and will be back in a little while," she told me. I nodded and she walked out the door.

I quickly grabbed my backpack and was glad that Claire's mother had brought me to a local Walmart and let me buy some new clothes. Now, I'd just have to wash them after wearing them. I changed and walked out of the room just as Claire was coming out of the bathroom. Her hair was wet and she had a towel wrapped around her. "I'm done in there," I told her.

"Okay," she said. I saw her face redden as she scurried into her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

I let out a chuckle as I saw how embarrassed she was. I couldn't help it, she was so cute. I couldn't help but think that. I walked to the kitchen where I saw Claire's family was awake and happy. They were jumping around the kitchen, making breakfast, Todd doing forgotten homework.

Judi was the first one to notice me. She smiled and pulled out a bowl. "Have some cereal," she said pulling out a box of coco pebbles. "You have a long day ahead of you."

"Thank you," I told her, though I didn't offer a smile. I wasn't a morning person, and wasn't about to fake it. I ate the cereal as I waited for Claire to come out and bring me to her school.

It was ten minutes before Claire actually appeared in front of her family. She was wearing jeans, a purple t-shirt, and a baggy jacket. Now I know get what was taking her so long, she was trying to find something to wear that would cover her wings. Unlike me, Claire hadn't learned how to properly fold them in so you can hid them when wearing a simple shirt. I'd show her how to do that today.

I nodded to Claire, as if to tell her that it would hid them. Claire smiled at me and walked over, sitting next to me. Her mother set a bowl of cereal in front of her and kissed her forehead.

"Do you want me to drive you two or will you be going with Massie?" She asked.

"Drive us!" Claire said quickly. Her head had snapped up and her eyes widened with fear. Claire's mother nodded, seeing all the fear in her eyes that I had.

I personally would have rather flew, but knew Claire didn't know how yet. I'd have to teach her how to fly soon. If Claire and I were to leave to follow the Flock, then we'd never make it to Virginia on foot, flying would be our best option.

When we got into the family's station wagon, I instantly became tense. I looked over at Claire and could tell she felt the same way. Neither of us liked small spaces, this I knew. I also knew I'd last for a few hours in the car, I just wasn't sure how long Claire would last.

When she started to fidget, I put my hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay," I whispered. Claire nodded and grabbed my hand.

"Thanks," she whispered back. I looked up and saw her mother watching us in the rearview mirror. She gave me a small smile when she saw I was watching. I gave a nod. Eventually we came to a large building with cars in front of it. Claire sighed. "Welcome to OCD," she growled.

I gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you Claire," I said. "I promise." She smiled at me then I felt her hand squeeze back. I sighed and looked out the window. "So this is what hell looks like," I whispered to myself, thinking about what a kick Iggy would get out of me going to an all girls school.

* * *

><p><strong>I hate making Fang OOC. It truly sucks. But, he wouldn't be good in this story if was all hard and like shunned Claire or something like that. So let's just make this the start of the new Fang, the one who actually has feelings! I know gasp!<strong>

**Haha. Anyways, I updated quickly because I'm trying to actually have a complete story for once. So please review!**

**~Bella ;)**


	6. I'm Proud of You

**Claire's POV**

I chuckled at Fang's words. Maybe OCD was hell, I know it was for me when I first moved here and maybe would be now. I squeezed his hand like he had done to me seconds ago and smiled. "It'll be okay, we'll get through this together," I promised him.

A genius smile spread across Fang's face. "That good," he told me. I could hear the happiness in his voice and couldn't help smiling back.

Before we got out of the car my mom stopped us. "Claire, I know I said I didn't want you to have a cell phone until you were sixteen but," she pulled a small silver flip phone from her purse, "I think it will be safer if you care this around with you."

"Thanks," I said taking it generously. I didn't have Massie's old phone anymore, the Erasers had taken everything I had on me. Fang and I got out of the car and watched my mom drive away. "That was odd." I decided.

Fang shrugged. "Odd is when a bomb explodes in your room at a random moment," he looked down and offered me a smile. "Not when a mom gives a daughter a cell phone because she's worried."

I shrugged. "A bomb really exploded in your room?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. He'd told me how Iggy and Gasman liked explosives but I'd never thought they'd blow one up on one of their own.

Fang nodded. "Full of pink paint. Had to wear them for a week until Max let me give them to Nudge and buy new ones," he said.

I couldn't help it, I laughed. Just thinking of Fang wearing pink was hilarious! I'd love to actually see it. Suddenly three girls walked up to me. One of them I recognized as Olivia, an airhead as Massie called her. The other two I quickly realized were her friends, Strawberry and I think her name was Lena.

"Oh my Gawd! Claire we're so happy you're okay!" Olivia cheered. She ran over and hugged her.

Claire saw Fang began to tense up and knew she had to finish this and reassure him she was fine. Claire quickly pulled back. "Thanks!" Claire said with fake happiness. "I'm glad to be back."

Olivia paused for a second. Then she nodded quickly and smiled again. "Well, I'm just so happy, you wouldn't believe how boring it was without you! No one was like doing anything! Massie barely ever even cracked jokes!" She blabbed. I cocked my head to the side, no way. Massie always cracked jokes about LBRs, Olivia was probably exaggerating.

"Uh, I'd better go!" I said quickly. No need to talk to people you really don't care about. "Bye!" I then walked around them, pulling Fang with me.

"Who were they?" Fang asked quickly.

"The one who hugged me was Olivia Ryan, complete airhead, the pink haired one was Strawberry, and I think the other girl was Lena," I told him, pulling him through the doors of OCD. We walked into the office, so I could get my schedule and a new student ID card.

Fang nodded. "You didn't have to grab my hand," he said. "I wouldn't have hurt them unless I knew you were in danger."

I looked back at him then realized I had grabbed his hand and not even realized that. I pulled my hand out of Fang's and instantly felt cold. _I can't just do that! _I yelled at myself. _You have a boyfriend!_ Though, as I thought of Cam, I couldn't help but wish I could just hold Fang's hand and not care.

The office lady gave me an ID card and my schedule paper. It confirmed that I had the same classes. Fang and I walked out of the office and started down the hall. I was determined to see if I still had my locker. When we found it, I smiled as I saw all the cards stuck to it. I tried my combination and was happy to see it worked.

"Nice pictures," Fang commented. I blushed as I saw he was talking about the photos of me and the Pretty Committee. Most of them were the bad ones, the ones Massie said to throw out because no one needed to see her like that, but they were my favorites. I loved remembering that Massie and the others were perfect.

"Thanks," I murmured.

"Claire!" Someone yelled.

I turned just in time for the tallest girl at OCD to pull me into a hug. I smiled at Allie-Rose as she pulled back. "Hey."

"I'm so glad you are okay!" She said. "We all missed you so much!"

I nodded. "I know, I've heard," I grinned at her. She really was a nice person, I'm sure she was the first one to put a card on my locker.

Someone cleared their throat. We all looked up to see Massie, Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen standing a few feet away. Allie-Rose immediately backed away. She offered me a smile before running off down the hallway. I gulped in a deep breath, hoping to gain confidence from it, only to be beat down by Massie's Channel No. 19.

"Hey guys," I breathed, offering them a smile.

"What are you wearing?" Alicia asked, eyeing my outfit.

I bit my bottom lip. How did I know she'd be the one to ask about the clothes? "Uh, I didn't have anything else," I muttered, knowing it was a horrible excuse and would never be accepted.

"Doesn't matter right now," Massie said quickly. Alicia eyed her but quickly forget about it, understanding. "Why is he here?" She asked, pointing her chin at Fang. "Isn't he supposed to be on a bus to the nuthouse?"

"No!" I quickly defending Fang. "He's here for me!" Everyone stared at me wide-eyed, surprised by my outburst. "You know, Fang's the only one who gets what I've been through. And I don't know if I can go through the day without someone who can help me through it and," I felt a nudge at my side and looked up. Fang eyed me. Oops! I was rambling, I seemed to do that when I got nerves.

"Oh my Gawd!" Alicia said. "You're the guy who told me to call 911!" She squealed.

I looked up at Fang. I couldn't really remember that day but I do remember someone grabbing me and holding me. That was Fang? He'd been there and told Alicia to call for help? I knew he'd been in the hospital with me but I didn't think he was the one who held me, I'd thought that was Cam.

"That was you?" I whispered, surprised by how much awe was in my own voice. "You were the one who held me."

Fang didn't need to nod, I had stated it as a fact, but he did anyways, because he knew I needed him to. I needed him to confirm the fact that was forming in my mind. My smile widened.

"You saved my life," I said. When I looked into his deep violet eyes, I could see how much he cared. My heart squeezed as I saw how much he really did care for me.

Massie cleared her throat, causing me to look back up at her. "Look, I get that you want your _friend_ here, but this is an all _girls _school so, bye bye," Massie said to Fang. I'd never noticed how cold hearted she was before.

"Fang's staying," I said strongly. "He as permission and," I paused, flipping open the phone my mom gave me, looking at the time, "I have class. Come on Fang." I closed my locker and reached out for his hand. We walked away from Massie, not taking a look back at her.

As we turned the corner, Fang squeezed my hand and smiled. "You did good back there," he said. "I'm proud you stood up to her."

I found myself getting lost in his smile. I didn't even pay attention as we walked to class. It didn't matter that all the girls were staying at me with pity or envy. It didn't matter, all that mattered was that I had my friend, my Fang.

We walked into my French class and almost all the seats were filled. I walked to the one open seat in the center of the classroom. Fang grabbed one of the roller chairs by the computers and sat next to me. The teacher ignored Fang, I'm sure Principal Burns told them to completely ignore him, but every other girl stared. Some of them even tried to flirt.

I had to resist the urge to snap at them. _You're dating Cam_, I reminded myself._ If you yell at girls for flirting with someone who you're not supposed to like then someone is going to get hurt!_ Even thought I kept telling myself not to care, even though I knew I was technically still dating Cam, even though I really did care for him, I couldn't help kept wanting to claim Fang. I wanted to get my crappy drug store vanilla scented perfume and spray him. Like Massie had done to Derrington.

Whenever Fang would look at me, I'd turn my head to face the board. When he looked away to turn down some girl, I'd glare at them. My feelings were going hay wirer, and I was going to end up drowning in them someday, soon. I could feel it.

**Kristen POV**

"Fang's staying," Claire said, her voice stone cold. "He has permission and," she pulled out a small silver phone and flipped it open, "I have to get to class. Come on Fang." She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall to her first class.

I was stunned, but Massie was worse. "After all I did for her!" She sneered. "I'm not letting her get away that easily!" She pulled out her iphone and snapped a picture of Claire and Fang from behind.

"Massie, what are you doing?" I asked her. Please don't do something that will make us lose Claire forever! I prayed. Just please Massie, don't do it!

"Nothing," Massie mused. "Not yet anyways." A sinister smile played on Massie's face as we walked to French.

I started to worry. Could Massie really be going crazy? She had kept a straight face all the while when Claire was gone. She never let us see her cry and tried to keep our spirits high, even though it was close to impossible.

Claire came into French a minute before it was supposed to start, and after everyone else. She sat in the middle of the room with that boy, Fang, in a roller chair next to her desk. I watched as girls would flirt with Fang, or stare at Claire with envy. I had to admit, he was really hawt, but not my type. I would have never thought he was Claire's type either but the way she glare at the girls who flirted with him, well I just knew she was crushing on him. Was she over Cam? Was that even possible, since she had been so in love with him?

My phone buzzed and I looked under my desk to see it was a text from Massie.

_**Current State of Union**_

_**In Out**_

_-Kh-laire!...-Claire_

_-Chanel no.19...-Vanilla Perfume_

_-The PC...-A Duo_

_-Trusting...-Cheaters_

_-Choosing your BFFs...-Choosing a guy_

_-Cam Fisher...-Nick "Fang"_

Underneath the text was the picture Massie had taken of Claire and Fang this morning. Underneath that it said "Blackmail."

I looked up from my phone to Massie. With my eyes I asked, "Would you really do that to her?"

Massie shrugged. She was still trying to decide herself. I smiled at the fact that she had some heart in her, the fact that she still cared about Claire even though she chose this boy over us. It was probably just a phase after all. Claire would come back, she always did.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not sure how far to take this. I really don't know when the story's going to end right now but I have an idea for doing a squeal if I finish this story how I want too. Actually I have two ideas, depending on how the story ends. So tell me how you like it with a review. Thanks for reading!<strong>

**~Bella ;)**


	7. Promises and Flying

**Max's POV**

I stared in front of me, just blankly at the purple sheets. They were clean, I know it's a surprise but they were, and a light purple color. I wasn't scheming or planning or even thinking about anything important. All I could think was how could I leave Fang. He'd always been there for me, even in those most awkward moments, and I'd just left him because I didn't want everyone to get hurt. But that's the decision a great leader would make right? To protect the majority over one, then why did it feel so wrong?

"Because you love him!"

My head snapped up to the sound of someone talking. "Who's there?" I asked.

"Down here dumb ass!" I looked down at my sheets and saw a little me. She was in all red and had a tail and horns. Was this my brain's sick sense of humor? To replay all those idiot teen movies?

"Let me guess, you're my bad side and are here to tell me to go back?" I guessed. "And the good, if there is any, in me is going to pop up soon and tell me to do what's best for everyone?" Wow, Nudge made us watch too many chick flicks.

"You should listen to me Max," a soft voice said. I looked over and saw another little me in a long white shirt and white jeans. This one had a little halo and almost glowed.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just crazy now aren't I?" I asked the ceiling. "Is this your way of telling me?"

"Just go back and claim your man!" Devil Max said. She sat down on the bed. "Tell the truth now, how do you feel when you think of Fang and _Claire_ together?"

I grinded my teeth. I hated the thought of Fang with anyone. He belonged to the Flock, he couldn't be with anyone. We all had to be part of the Flock. Though, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew the only reason I thought this was because I didn't want him to be with anyone, period. Though, I'd never admit it to myself, let alone anyone else.

"See?" I felt myself nod. "Go get your man!"

"Max, think about everyone else for a second. Could you leave Angel, Nudge, Gasman, and Iggy to fend for themselves?" Angel Max said.

"They have Ann!" Devil Max yelled back at her.

"She has a point," I pointed out. Ann could watch them for a day and a half. That's all I'd need to fly there, convince Fang to come with me, and fly back.

"But think about it, would they want you to leave them? Being a good leader involves making decisions to benefit everyone and listening to their opinions," Angel Max said.

I groaned and collapsed onto my bed. "I feel insane," I muttered.

"You should," the two girls agreed.

"More insane than usual?"

I glanced up and around the mini me's on my stomach. "Hey Ig," I smiled at him, though I knew it was wasted.

Iggy smiled back at me, as if sensing mine. "Can I?" He nodded to my room.

I nodded, then remembered that he was blind. "Yeah, come on in," I said, laying my head back on the pillow.

I felt Iggy sit on the end of my bed. "You want to go back and get Fang," he said after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah," I chocked. "He should be here, with his family."

Iggy took a deep breath. "Did you ever think to look around you?" He muttered. "To look at all the people that are willing to help you?"

I glanced up at Iggy. "What you mean?" I asked. I was so confused now. I always looked at the people around me, didn't I? I looked to the minis on my stomach. 'I don't know' they shrugged.

"Max, I'm here for you if you need me," Iggy said. He took another deep breath. "I'll fly to New York with you if you want. We can leave tonight and get there in the morning."

I sat up quickly, knocking the minis off of me. "You'd do that?" I asked, my eyes wide. Iggy nodded. I pulled him into a hug. "Thanks Ig, you're a good friend." I jumped up off the bed and ran towards the door. "I'm going to tell the others that we'll be back tomorrow." I walked away before he could answer.

"Good friend," Iggy sighed. "That's all I'll ever be."

I paused, but otherwise pretended not to hear him. "Maybe you should listen to him more Max," Angel Max said.

I ignored her until… "Yeah, listen to Iggy," said Devil me.

Now when an angel and devil agree, you know something is up.

**Fang's POV**

I knew what I felt for Claire was more than friendship. I tried not to smile at her or let her grab my hand or feel how I felt when she held my hand or smiled at me. Though I knew I was failing miserably at all of the above. I couldn't stop myself when I was around Claire, I had to act different around her.

"I'm going to show you how to fly today," I muttered as we walked to her next class. "Is that okay?"

Claire looked up and nodded eagerly. Her blue eyes were wide with admiration. She admired me? "I'd love to!" She cheered, a little too loud. A few girls looked over at us and Claire immediately began blushing. "Sorry."

I bite back a chuckle. Sometimes Claire reminded me of Nudge, sometimes she reminded me of Max, but, most of the time, she was just Claire. she couldn't be anyone else. "Nice Claire," I finally managed, the corners of my lips just barely lifting up.

"I really do want to learn though," she sighed. Claire started wiggling. "Wing malfunction," she muttered. Claire looked around frantically, then spotted her target, a bathroom. "Be right back!" She yelled before running in.

I leaned against the wall outside the bathroom and closed my eyes. Too much was happening. I'd lost my family to stay with a girl a barely knew. I lost Max, who I was starting to see I had feelings for, for a girl I barely knew. I'd felt something for Claire, said girl I barely knew. I wasn't in love, hell no I wasn't in love, I just felt something for her. Like I owed her maybe. Owed her for what? If I recall, we were the ones to let her out of that cage. Maybe it was the overprotective brother feeling I had for Angel and Nudge, not wanting them to get her. Then again, I had a feeling that wasn't it either. They way I looked at her, watched her every move, picking up her body langue, that wasn't brotherly love.

A throat cleared and I opened my eyes to see Claire's "friends" standing in front of me. The leader stood in front, the brown haired one they called Massie. Behind her was her little minions. A Spanish girl that looked like she stepped off a runway, a redhead that had a distant look in her eyes as if she was longing for something, and a girl with short blonde hair and an athlete toned body. She was the only one I'd have to worry about in a fight.

"How much will it cost?" Massie asked me. I didn't satisfy her with a response, mainly because I didn't understand what she was asking. "How much do I have to pay you to skip town and forget about Claire?" She asked impatiently.

"Zero," I answered immediately. This answer pleased her. "Because I'd never leave Claire unless she asked me to." That just pissed her off.

"Look, I'll give you a thousand dollars if you break her heart and leave without a trace," Massie tired again. "That would help you and your family of misfits wouldn't it?"

I raised my eyebrows slightly. "So you'd be willing to hurt your supposed friend just so she was back in your grasp? You'd have me break her heart just so you could pick her up and say 'It's okay, he was a jerk anyway. Now be a good girl and do what I say.'?" I was surprised at all the emotion I'd put into that.

Massie glared at me, but I could tell I'd struck a cord with one of her friends. The athletic blonde's eyes turned soft as she stared at me, surprised at my words. I stared back at her, not holding back anything. I thought about all the time I'd spent at the school and how Claire had been through twice that pain, since she hadn't been born with wings. Tears touched the corners of the blonde's eyes as she saw my version of hell.

"Claire went through that," she muttered. Even if she hadn't seen what I was trying to portray, she saw something and that something wasn't good. "All that pain. You went through it too and you're just trying to kept her away from the darkness."

I nodded. "I know what happened and I don't want her to fall into that pain that she could feel," I told her. I strained my ears to hear Claire. She was opening the stall door, having fixed her wing malfunction. "Now unless you want to explain to her how you wanted me to break her heart, I suggest you leave!"

Massie huffed and stormed off, the Spanish girl and redhead on her tail. The blonde stayed behind and waited with me for Claire to come out. "Thanks," she mused, "for not letting Claire die. Massie is thankful too. She'll just never show it."

I shrugged, not really believing her. "That girl has a heart when I wear pink," I muttered, but she laughed anyways.

Claire came out of the bathroom pulling at her shirt, trying to get something that I couldn't see off of it. "I think I've gotten it fixed but I'll probably have to check it again later," The newly winged girl said. She looked up and saw the sporty blonde next to me. "Hey Kristen? What are you doing here?" Claire had a nervous smile on her face.

"Claire, I don't know what you've been through but you need to know I'm here for you," Kristen hugged Claire quickly then pulled back. "I'm sorry, but I have to go!" Kristen ran off towards where Massie and her other friends had gone.

Claire turned to me. "That was weird," she shrugged.

"Weirder than us?"

She laughed. "Alright, I'll rephrase. That was weird for Kristen," she nodded. "Yep, that was weird for Kristen." Claire started laughing randomly. "Come on Fang, I want to get this day over with."

The rest of the day went by smoothly, or as smoothly as two winged bird kids could possibly be. At lunch, everyone stared at us as we tried to get the food our bodies needed. Finally, when school was over Claire called her mom and told her that she wanted to show me around town. At first, she was relentless to let us, but when I explained that I'd protect her Judi agreed.

"So we're walking around town?" Claire questioned as I pulled her to the staff parking lot. "Or not?"

I shook my head. "No, we'll be flying around town." I grinned at her.

Claire smiled back at me and squealed, jumping up and down. "This is so exciting!" She turned to run towards the forest but tripped over her feet, falling to the ground. "Oops."

I offered her my hand. She smiled shyly and took it, letting me pull her to her feet. "You have to take this seriously Claire. Otherwise you'll be falling instead of flying," my face was dead serious in attempt to assure her.

Claire nodded, "I'm sorry, I'll take it more seriously from now on." She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I'm ready, let's do this."

I smiled. "I know you are. Let's get going."

**Cam's POV**

"You must be excited," Derrick said. "You got your girlfriend back."

I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "Did you get that text from Massie about the welcome home party she wants to throw Claire?" He nodded. "I bet Claire will love it."

"Cam Fisher!"

I looked up and saw Massie, Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen walking up to me. It was Massie who had called out. "Hey, where's Claire?" I asked.

Massie had a smirk on her face. "Mass, don't," Kristen muttered. But Massie ignored her. She held her hand up in a symbol to shut up.

"Kristen, are you the Queen of England?" She asked.

Kristen sighed, knowing where it was going. "No," she breathed.

"Then what makes you think you can rule me!" Massie snapped. Alicia and Dylan laughed, high-fiving. Massie turned back to me. "Now, to answer your question she's with her new boyfriend."

I laughed. "You're joking right?" Massie didn't answer me. I looked back at the other girls. "She's just joking right? Claire's my girlfriend."

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Massie asked. "Follow me." She started walking down the sidewalk, her friends following.

I looked back at Derrick, who shrugged. I nodded and started after the girls, Derrick right no my tail. We walked down the street to OCD, then stopped in front of it. Massie put her hands on her hips and glared at the school, almost expect it to make Claire walk out. I gave her a few minutes, but when Claire didn't walk out after a five minutes, I became impatient.

"What am I waiting for?" I asked Massie. "Am waiting for the building to blow up?"

"Wait for it!" She hissed. Massie turned to Alicia. "You're sure they didn't leave yet?" Alicia nodded.

"Over there!" Dylan shouted, pointing to the teacher parking lot.

Everyone looked over to where she'd pointed. That's when I saw them. There was Claire, so happy and laughing, but it wasn't to me. She was clinging onto some this tall guy with black hair and pale skin. He looked gothic. She laughed, bending over to hold her stomach, and the guy put his arm on her shoulders to support her.

I could feel my eyes widen and jaw hit the ground. "Claire," I muttered. I'd just found her and now was losing her again. "Who is he?" I snapped.

"That's Nick," Massie said.

"Fang," Kristen muttered.

"Whatever!"

"Why is he all over Claire, doesn't he know she has a boyfriend!" I glared at Claire's friends. "Did you do anything?"

"We told him she had a boyfriend, but he didn't seem to care?" Massie pulled lent that wasn't there off her shirt. "I bet she doesn't know he's using her."

"What!" I started at her. "He's using her?" Massie nodded. "Why didn't you say any of this first?"

"Because I didn't find it important until now," the girl shrugged. I bet she really did think that she ruled the world.

I just glared at her. "I won't let him hurt her," I promised myself. I looked to where Claire and Nick were walking away. "I won't let him hurt you Claire, never."

**Long time but hope you like it. Review and Happy Holidays!**

**~Bella ;)**


End file.
